Femininity, Sexuality and Professionalism in the Children's Departments

Abstract

The authors, who undertook this research together, all worked for parts of their careers in the children's departments, Pam Carter Hood and Angela Everitt just prior to their becoming part of the social services departments; Dorothy Runnicles since 1948. They all subsequently moved into social work education which included, for them all, uneasy experiences as women managers. They are now retired. Angela Everitt runs a women's studies bookshop 'ReadingLasses' in Wigtown, Scotland's booktown. Pamela Carter Hood sadly died soon after completing this paper. SUMMARY Noting the significance of women in management in the local authority children's departments (1948-72) and the preoccupation with women in management during the 1990s, the authors compare these two periods. In particular, they focus upon the discourses of femininity which shape the ways in which women as managers and as professionals are talked about, under stood and analysed. The argument, presented from a feminist post-structuralist perspective, is based on an analysis of data generated through interviews with women who were signifi cant in the children's departments (as children's officers or members of the children's committees) between 1948 and 1972. The paper shows that the ways in which femininity is constructed, socially and through women's subjectivities, act as powerful mechanisms through which women are controlled, but also present opportunities to women for resistance and change.